Defence in Depth
by Grommile
Summary: The designers of the Evangelion neural interface had gone to some trouble to protect the pilot from being absorbed or mentally contaminated by the Evangelion. Unfortunately for Shinji and Asuka, the dual synchronization scenario was not considered.
1. Prologue - Abstract

Neurological safety and security in the Evangelion Project - a lack of defence in depth

Akagi R, Ibuki M  
Tokyo-3, 2017

The primary security boundary in the interface between the pilot and the Evangelion consists of the filter circuits integrated into the Entry Plug. Early designs of this interface featured additional filter circuits in the A10 neural connectors worn by the pilots. Once the Entry Plug's filter circuits were proven to be more than adequate for all reasonable situations, the filters in the A10 connectors were removed on the grounds that they impaired the pilot's synchronization ratio.

In this paper, the authors report on the psychological and physiological consequences of this design decision for two pilots who underwent emergency dual synchronization during the Angel attack on the UN Pacific Fleet.


	2. Debriefing - Gaghiel

Deputy Commander Kōzō Fuyutsuki looked at the red-headed teenage girl in front of him and wondered again why he had ever let himself be caught up in this madness. "Pilot Sōryū, what was your rationale for bringing Pilot Ikari into the Entry Plug with you?"

Asuka glanced sideways at Captain Katsuragi as if seeking comfort or support. "I... The safest place in an Angel battle is the inside of an Entry Plug, sir."

Fuyutsuki sighed and raised an eyebrow. "While certainly true, that doesn't quite justify your behaviour. Let me phrase my question differently. What was your rationale for putting Pilot Ikari in a situation where bringing him with you into the Entry Plug was the most suitable choice?"

"I wanted to show off my Evangelion to him," admitted Asuka, cheeks colouring as she again looked towards Katsuragi. "We were right there in the hangar when the alarm sounded."

"I can understand that. Contrary to popular belief, I too was once young and enthusiastic." Fuyutsuki glanced down at the slim manila folder containing the initial report from the Pacific Fleet. "The admiral had a great deal to say about this incident, very little of it friendly, and I will be directing most of it to the attention of NERV Berlin. Their decision to transport your Evangelion by sea fitted with standard B-Type equipment is a shocking oversight."

Asuka frowned at him, but kept her reply brief. "Thank you, sir."

Fuyutsuki sat back in his chair. "Captain Katsuragi, do you have anything to add?"

"You did a good job out there, Asuka," said Katsuragi, smiling. "Nobody could have done better."

"Thank you, ma'am." Asuka looked like she'd bitten down on a lemon.

"Well, Pilot Sōryū," said Fuyutsuki, doing his best to keep his tone light, "you are very welcome here at NERV Tokyo-3. Dismissed."

* * *

Lieutenant Maya Ibuki had been staring at the psychograph readings on her computer screen for ten minutes before raising an empty coffee cup to her lips sparked a sudden insight. She switched over to a command line window, tapped in a few adjustments to the analysis settings, and rose wearily from a chair really not designed to be occupied for hours on end. "Akagi-sempai, would you like another coffee?"

Ritsuko Akagi rose equally wearily from her seat, shaking her head. "Not now. I scored some spare go-pills from an SDF pilot a few days ago. Should still be some left, just let me find them."

Maya looked down into her empty cup, trying to hide her shock. "I... I don't take drugs, sempai."

"Caffeine just makes you wired. Speed makes you smarter." Ritsuko grinned. "Paul Erdős stopped taking speed once. He didn't write a single paper that month."

"I'll just, uh, stick to coffee, sempai," squeaked Maya as she retreated from their shared office. Walking as briskly as she could manage down the hall, Maya found Captain Katsuragi standing opposite the coffee machine, muttering to herself.

"Ah, Captain? Are you all right?" asked Maya, .

"Oh, just paperwork. The fleet wants us to pay for its ships. Replacing those destroyers costs less than the repair bill from Operation Yashima, but it's the principle of the thing. We're not the Navy's paymasters." Katsuragi knocked back the contents of her cup. "How's life treating you, Lieutenant?"

Maya hesitated for a moment, wondering whether to mention her sempai's little habit. "Um, I had an unusual offer this evening," she said, as she keyed in her order on the coffee machine. "And I think I'm getting somewhere with the data from Asuka's fight."

"Your sempai trying to lead you into temptation, is she?" asked Katsuragi, waggling her eyebrows.

Maya felt her cheeks burning. "Captain! Nothing like that! She just, uh, likes something a bit stronger than coffee to keep her going."

"Oh, right. Yeah, that sounds like Ritz. Anyway. I'll get back to my numbers and let you get back to yours. G'night!"

Maya grabbed her coffee from the machine and headed back down the hall. As she approached the office door, she heard Ritsuko cursing loudly.

"That pig! That absolute pig! I'll..." Ritsuko tailed off as Maya walked back in. "Um. It seems I don't have those go-pills any more. Could I trouble you to get me a coffee?"

Maya sighed. "Sempai. I think I'm getting somewhere with these psychographs. Let me just check the results first."

Settling into her seat, Maya unlocked her screen and grinned. The idea she'd had when she ran out of coffee had worked. "Sempai, I know what's wrong with these psychographs."

"Go on."

"The Entry Plug protects the pilot from being contaminated by the Evangelion, but in a dual sync scenario, the pilots are both on the same side of the filter circuit. At high sync ratio..."

"I'll be damned." Ritsuko smacked herself on the forehead. "Misato mentioned Asuka and Shinji both seemed a little off after the battle, and not just in the way Shinji always is. I'll get them in for a sync test ASAP."


	3. Resonance

Shinji Ikari lay in the darkness staring at his bedroom ceiling, unable to sleep despite an exhausting day. He'd wanted to say something to Asuka - it felt strange to think so familiarly of a girl he'd only just met, but it felt even stranger not to - as she came out of her debriefing, but the thunderous look on her face as she stalked down the hallway made him hold his tongue. Misato had come out a few minutes later, apologized to him for having "all the paperwork ever" to do, and asked a Section Two agent to drive him home.

Now he was stuck with only his racing thoughts for company. Synchronizing to Asuka's Unit 02 had been a very different experience to synchronizing to Unit 01, yet even that paled in comparison to the strangeness of having someone else in the loop. He'd tried to concentrate on the sensory inputs of the Evangelion itself, but keeping Asuka's thoughts out of his head entirely had proven impossible. Given the way she'd looked at him after they finally got out of the Entry Plug, he suspected she'd had exactly the same problem in reverse.

Some of those thoughts wouldn't leave his head. For her, piloting Eva was the best possible thing in the world. She was fascinated by the ponytailed man accompanying her - Mr Kaji - and determined to win his favour, even though it had been perfectly clear to Shinji that Kaji was far more interested in Misato, who he'd obviously met before. Her thoughts about Shinji, in turn, were a confusing muddle he couldn't follow and couldn't forget.

That was a little, he conceded, like his own thoughts about Asuka. She was pretty. She was good at piloting Eva. She was full of herself. She had a very short temper. He didn't really like her, but he still wanted to get to know her better. He wanted to understand where those thoughts stuck in his head came from.

Shaking his head, he got up and walked through to the kitchen. Maybe a glass of water would help.

* * *

Asuka Langley Sōryū lay in the darkness staring at the ceiling of Kaji's guest bedroom, her eyes still red from crying. She'd tried to make another pass at Kaji when they got to his apartment, and it had gone even worse than the first. It would have been easier if he'd said the same things she was thinking about herself now, or even if he'd just been cold and blunt, but no. He'd had to be kind about it and point out his own vices.

Her luggage being a casualty of the battle didn't help. NERV had provided a change of clothes for her so she could get out of her plugsuit and shower away the LCL, of course, but going to her debriefing in a T-shirt and sweatpants - because even though this was Japan, the quartermaster didn't have a regular uniform in her size - was not an experience she wanted to repeat.

Shinji had been fine, of course. He'd gone to his debriefing in a perfectly normal shirt and slacks. Perks of being the Commander's son, she wanted to say, but the unwanted thoughts that had leaked into her head during the battle made it impossible to believe. Even she had more of a connection with her adulterous father than Shinji did with his.

Oh yes, those thoughts. She wanted them out of her head. She didn't want to know what it felt like to have your Evangelion blasted with a particle beam that made a mockery of AT Fields, and she certainly didn't want to know what that other female pilot's breast felt like - he was a pervert remembering something like that so sharply - but she couldn't quite make herself hate someone who'd watched his mother...

Someone who'd watched his mother...

She thought she'd run out of tears for one night.

* * *

Shinji was standing by the sink when the kitchen light came on. He blinked, wincing in the sudden brightness, and turned towards the door. His guardian stood there, a slightly dumbfounded look on her face. "M-Misato-san?"

"Are you all right, Shinji?"

"I'm..." Shinji glanced down at his half-empty glass. "Misato-san, is... is Asuka all right? She looked really angry when she came out of her debriefing."

Misato smirked and opened her mouth as if to crack wise, then stopped and shook her head. "I don't know. Kaji lined himself up a two-bedroom apartment. I think he took her back there. I don't think she'll be staying there long."

"You were going to say something else, weren't you?"

"I was going to say something stupid, Shinji. Grown-ups are good at that." She pulled off her beret and tossed it over her shoulder. "We say things like 'I need a beer'. Want one? It might help you sleep."

Shinji shook his head vigorously. Watching her pour cans of the stuff down her throat every night was enough to make him very sure he didn't want to try it himself. "I'll be all right. Just needed to clear my head. Good night, Misato-san. Sleep well."


	4. Surface Tension

Misato looked at the stack of paperwork on her desk and sighed. Improbably for a Sunday morning, there was more of it than when she went to sleep the night before. Most of it, she was sure, could perfectly well be dealt with by civilian clerks, but she couldn't hand any of it off without reading it all first. She grabbed the first folder from the top of the stack and was just about to start reading when her phone rang.

"Katsuragi here," she answered.

"It's Kaji. Look, I screwed up and made a girl cry."

Misato pinched the bridge of her nose. Kaji had been back in Japan less than twenty-four hours and he was already giving her a headache. "What happened?"

"Asuka made a pass at me again. I turned her down, because hell no, and I was even nice about it, but..."

Misato leaned back and looked at the texturing pattern of the acoustic tile ceiling. "But nothing upsets a teenage girl with a crush on an older man like being reminded she's too young for him."

"Right."

"Fine. Obviously she can't stay at your place, then." Misato stuck the folder back on top of the stack and pondered the practical options.

"Obviously. Any room at yours?"

"Not rea-" She stopped, as a tolerable option came to mind. "Oh, to hell with it. Asuka can have my room. The storeroom's got a window, I don't have time to bring dates home, and I don't need any of the crap in there."

"Seriously?"

"Yes. You're paying for the removals van and the new furniture." A whimsical impulse seized her at that moment. "Oh, and for yakiniku and fancy beers for two next Saturday."

"Deal. See you later."

Misato sighed as Kaji hung up. She didn't need a teenage girl living in her apartment, she didn't need to be turning the place upside down at no notice, and she definitely didn't need to have just invited herself on a dinner date with her idiot ex. She returned the handset to the cradle, pulled her beret back on, and walked out of the office, realizing as she left that Asuka was going to need to go shopping as well.

* * *

"I'm home!" announced Misato's voice from the hallway.

Shinji started at the sound of her arrival, and nearly dropped the glass he was drying up on the floor. "Misato-san? What's wrong?"

Misato walked into the kitchen, typing a text message into her mobile phone. "That idiot Kaji upset Asuka last night, and she's moving in here."

Shinji scratched his head, trying to make sense of this announcement. He was pretty sure Asuka wouldn't want to share a room with either of them, and there wasn't a third bedroom. "Ah, Misato-san..."

"Don't worry, Shinji, your modesty will not be in peril! I'm giving her my room. I'll sleep in the storeroom." She stuffed her phone back into her jacket pocket. "They'll be here soon. I'll take Asuka clothes shopping. Could you help Kaji clear out my junk so there's room for a bed?"

Shinji felt a sudden and not-quite-unfamiliar sense of irritation with his guardian. "Why aren't you staying to help?"

"Because Asuka's luggage got trashed during the fight," replied Misato.

"... Right." Shinji sighed. He'd been hoping for a nice, quiet, relaxing day, with maybe a trip to buy groceries. At that thought, a random flicker of Asuka's tastes sprang to mind. "Asuka hates fish. Could you get some pork or chicken?"

"I'll try and fit that in. We can get delivery if it's easier." Misato paused for a moment. "Wait, how did-"

The doorbell interrupted her. "Coming!" she shouted, as she spun on her heel and headed back to the front hall. Shinji set down the glass and followed behind her, wanting to at least briefly see Asuka now instead of waiting until evening.

The front door slid open to reveal an underslept-looking and gloomy Asuka and her scruffy, ponytailed crush. "Hi Katsuragi. One Second Child, safe and sound."

Asuka sighed. "So you're taking me shopping in your uniform?"

"Only if I need to intimidate the store staff," replied Misato. "Right, Kaji. We'll be back once Asuka's got a decent set of outfits. Do try and have the removals done by then. Shinji, keep an eye on this scoundrel and make sure he doesn't try to pilfer my panties."

Shinji snorted at that remark. "As if he'd want to."

Misato gave him an odd look over her shoulder, then shook her head. "Ready, Asuka?"

"No, but let's go."

Shinji watched Misato and Asuka depart, feeling discomfited by Asuka's manner. She didn't seem like the girl he'd met yesterday. "So, ah, where do we start?" he asked Kaji.

"You're the man of the house, Shinji," said Kaji, grinning broadly. "Tell me, does Misato still starfish in her sleep?"


	5. Awareness

Asuka prodded half-heartedly at her lunch. Despite having only eaten half her breakfast, she just wasn't hungry. She looked up from the plate to see a worried look on Misato's face.

"Talk to me?" said Misato.

"What about?" riposted Asuka, the walls around her heart snapping up with reflexive ease.

"Why a growing teenage girl who hasn't eaten since 8am is picking at her lunch like she's stuffed, maybe."

"Not hungry."

Misato reached across the table with her chopsticks and plucked a piece of tonkatsu out of Asuka's bowl.

"Hey! That's my lunch!"

"You said you weren't hungry." Misato flashed a brief grin before turning serious again. "If you eat up, we can have this conversation later. If you don't, we'll have it right here and now."

Asuka poked at her lunch again with her own chopsticks. "Fine," she said, laying the utensils down. "Kaji's an asshole."

"I know, but that's not why he turned you down." Misato's expression went from 'serious' to 'stern'. "If anyone had got wind of him saying 'yes', he'd be having a very interesting conversation with Section Two right about now."

"What do you-" Asuka stopped as her brain caught up with Misato's implications. "But... but _I_ asked _him_!"

"That just means he'd only fall down the stairs _once_. I know you're upset, but, well."

 _I mustn't run away._ Asuka blinked. _That_ was certainly a sentiment she'd never felt a need for before. "Fine, fine, I get it. You're right. Can we finish the shopping now?"

Misato smiled and nodded. "Sure. I have to warn you, though, you might not appreciate the next bit."

"Why's that?"

"Well, you're starting school with Shinji and Rei on Tuesday, so you'll need a set of school uniforms."

Asuka rolled her eyes, but bit back the urge to challenge Misato on either point. It wasn't an argument she was likely to win. "Let's get it over with."

* * *

Looking down from the balcony, Shinji watched the unmarked white van pull away. There was something suspicious about the removals men Kaji had brought in; they were rather better spoken than he would've expected, and they'd steadfastly kept their gloves and long-sleeved turtlenecks on despite doing manual labour in Japan's eternal summer. "Uh, Mr Kaji, who _were_ those men?" he asked as the van disappeared in the distance.

"Oh, some guys whose boss still owes me a few more favours," replied Kaji, flicking imaginary dust off the front of his shirt. "Don't worry, they're not going to steal any of Katsuragi's junk. It's all going to sit perfectly safe in a warehouse until she wants it back. Their boss knows what's good for him."

Shinji could think of a dozen more questions he wanted to ask, but somehow, he suspected he didn't want the answers. "Right. So, uh, how long have you known Misato?"

"We met at uni. We saw each other for a while. It..." Kaji looked up at the sky for a moment. "It worked, but it didn't work out."

"What do you mean?"

"Men and women are different, Shinji. And I don't just mean in the fun ways." Kaji mimed voluptuous breasts with his hands. "Whatever we were looking for, I don't think we found it."

"You don't know?"

"Twenty isn't really old enough to know what you're looking for. Hell, I'm not even sure about thirty."

Shinji found himself wondering why, exactly, Asuka was so keen on Kaji. From a brief impression, he seemed to veer between flippant and just plain evasive at the drop of a hat. "What did you do to upset Asuka?"

"I didn't do anything I shouldn't. Anything else is her story to tell."

Shinji scowled. "That's not an answer."

"True. On the other hand, she hardly knows you and I'm not going to tell tales behind her back. If she wants you to know, I'm sure she'll tell you."

"She-" Gritting his teeth, Shinji held back his outburst. Kaji had a point, and talking about why it might not be as valid as he thought didn't seem like a good idea. "Fine, you're right."


	6. Unfamiliarity

Asuka sat on the bed in her new room, contemplating her situation.

On the up side, the bed was reasonably comfortable, the wardrobes and drawers had swallowed her new purchases with room to spare, and the room itself wasn't as pokey as she'd been expecting from a Japanese apartment.

On the down side, it felt pretty soulless without the nick-nacks her room back home had accumulated, and there was a faint, unnameable smell that the air freshener Shinji must have spritzed the room with couldn't conceal.

And of course, there was the door. The sliding door. The sliding door with no damned lock. It was ridiculous, asking her to share an apartment with a teenage boy and not giving her a door that locked. She yanked it open, rollers clattering noisily against the rails, and stepped out into the living room as soon as the door thumped against its end stop.

Misato was sat on the couch in a skimpy tank top and cutoffs, leafing through a magazine with two buff-looking men in speedos on the front cover. Asuka snorted in disgust, and her erstwhile guardian looked up at her. "What's up, Asuka?"

"This stupid door doesn't lock and the room smells funny and why are you reading porn in the living room?"

"It's not porn," replied Misato, laying the open magazine flat on the coffee table. "See?"

Asuka hesitated, wary of Misato's tendency to tease, and looked down. There wasn't a human in sight on the two-page spread - just pictures of exercise machines and what looked like price/feature comparison boxes above them. Cheeks burning, she tried to regain some kind of composure. "I didn't know you were in charge of the PT programme here."

Misato smiled wryly. "Neither did I until Fuyutsuki dropped it in my lap last week. One of our visitors from the JSDF kicked up a stink about us not having one."

"Right." Asuka's stomach rumbled, reminding her she hadn't finished her lunch. "When's dinner?"

"Half an hour," replied Shinji from the kitchen. "Chicken curry and rice."

* * *

With a belly full of beer and Shjnji's cooking, Misato leaned back in her chair and pondered her teenage charges' behaviour. Neither of them quite seemed themselves today. Asuka was actually backing down from confrontations, however gracelessly, and Shinji had acquired a sharp tongue from somewhere. The first could be chalked up to the thing with that idiot Kaji, but the second didn't really seem to have a cause behind it.

Her mobile buzzed annoyingly from the living room. Grumbling under her breath she headed over to see who was texting her on a Sunday evening.

It was Ritsuko. "We need Shinji and Asuka for emergency testing tomorrow morning. Everything's set up and I've told the school Shinji won't be in."

"I'll be in my room," said Misato, heading down the short corridor. "Play nice."

Her new room was, she realized, unpleasantly poky, but she was going to have to put up with it. "Emergency?" she texted back.

"We need clean psychograph readings. Dual sync is an untested configuration."

She scowled at her phone. "What's wrong with the readings you've got from the Angel encounter? If there's something wrong with my pilots I need to know."

"Interference. There's only so much the MAGI can do with that data."

Misato gave an exasperated sigh. "Fine. We're going to talk about this tomorrow."

* * *

Shinji hummed an unfamiliar tune to himself as he washed the curry residue out of the saucepan. It was an aggressive and choppy tune, and he'd never actually heard it, but there was something remarkably appealing about it.

"I didn't think you'd be into Rammstein," remarked Asuka from her seat at the table.

"Rammstein?"

She stared at him like he'd grown a second head. "You're humming one of their best songs!"

Shinji glanced nervously at the front door. "Oh. It's one of your favourites, right?"

"Yes." Asuka looked past him, also keeping an eye on the front door. "You... you got that from my brain. When we fought the Angel."

"I guess I must have—" He paused as he heard the front door opening. He wanted to explore this some more with Asuka, but not with Misato listening. "Later?"

Asuka nodded. "Sure."

"Hey kids, you've got a sync test first thing tomorrow," announced Misato, her annoyance with the situation plain to see in her expression. "And I have a meeting with Ritz at the same time."


	7. Observed

Asuka had never been bothered by the figure-hugging fit of her plugsuit. She liked the feel of the hi-tech fabric against her skin and the way it conformed to her movements without pinching or bunching. It let people know who she was - the pilot of Evangelion Unit 02 - and if some of the gazes it attracted were improper or disapproving, well, those prudes and perverts were beneath her notice.

And yet, this morning she stood in the locker room with her still-slack plugsuit hanging loosely around her body, hesitating for once to activate the tensioning system. Today, the prospect of those improper gazes felt... troubling. Unpleasant. Intimidating.

She slapped her hand against the locker. "Stupid Shinji," she muttered. It had to be something from his brain, another piece of him that had leaked into her. She triggered the tensioning system, checked that her A10 connectors were in place, and walked out into the hallway.

* * *

"Ah, Misato. Have a seat."

Misato hefted a stack of papers off the visitor's chair in Ritsuko's office and onto the floor before sitting down. "All right, Ritz, why don't you tell me what this is all about?"

"Dual sync is a completely untested scenario. We didn't even know whether an Evangelion would function with two pilots." Ritsuko leaned back in her chair. "Obviously it did, but the results just give us a new set of questions to answer."

Misato pinched the bridge of her nose. "So what's wrong with my pilots?"

"It looks like there was some mental contamination," said Ritsuko. "Maya spotted something on the psychograph readings, and given what you said about Shinji, it all fits. What we need now is a clearer sense of how much."

"Couldn't you at least pretend to care about _them_?"

"If I didn't care, Shinji would be at school and Asuka would be having the day off." Ritsuko fished her cigarettes out of her pocket. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a nicotine habit to feed and a simulator test to supervise."

* * *

Asuka walked into the simulator bay to find Shinji leaning against a safety railing, tapping his foot on the floor. The sight of him in a correctly fitted plugsuit instead of her spare was, she had to concede, quite appealing. "Hey, Shinji," she called to him.

Shinji looked up and smiled at her. "Hi Asuka. How are you feeling?"

She wanted to say 'fine', but the word stuck in her throat. He'd know she was bullshitting. "Weird," she admitted. "Does... does it bother you, wearing a plugsuit?"

"I'm mostly getting used to it. I still don't like the way Technician Kimura looks at me when I'm wearing it, though."

Asuka smiled weakly at the confirmation that _that_ thought was one of his. "I... we should make some time to talk. About things. You know."

"I know a good café," said Shinji. "We could go there when we're done here?"

Asuka hesitated. It would look like a date. She'd look like she was on a date with this... actually kind of cute and talented boy, who'd got into an Eva even when he didn't want to, because his father was going to force a wounded girl to do it instead. What could it hurt? "Sure. But we're paying for our own drinks."

"Don't want to give people the wrong impression, right?"

"R-right!" Asuka felt her cheeks flushing. Having someone around who actually understood her was going to take some getting used to. "So why are we waiting?"

"Lieutenant Ibuki says there's a circuit fault with the simulator and she didn't want to make us wait _inside_ the plugs."

"Huh. Someone nice works here?"

Shinji smiled wryly. "There had to be _someone_ , I guess."

The PA system chimed. "We've traced the fault and replaced the damaged parts," announced Lieutenant Ibuki. "Simulator plugs will be open shortly."

* * *

Misato paced nervously at the window of the observation bay. This wasn't like waiting for a live launch. She was in her element there, directing her pilots in a tactical situation.

It was more like when she'd been waiting to hear about her mother's condition. There was nothing she could do, and even once she had an answer it might not change anything.

"Simulator online," announced Lieutenant Aoba, leaning back in his chair. "Looks pretty boring."

"It's supposed to be," responded Ritsuko. "We want clean psychograph readings. Ibuki, enable synchronization."

Misato turned her attention to the status displays that were now flickering into life. There wasn't much to see yet, but it was actual information to focus on.

* * *

A simulated world flickered into being around Asuka. It wasn't really an improvement on the inside of an entry plug; she was surrounded by a flat, featureless plain under a flat, overcast sky. She thumbed the commlink switch. "Hey, what's with this simulation? We always had scenery in Berlin."

A video pane showing Dr Akagi popped up in her view. "We'll be loading a real scenario shortly. We need a psychograph baseline from a zero-threat environment, without your Evangelion complicating the results."

Another pane showing Shinji in his entry plug appeared. "Could be worse. At least the sky and the ground are different colours."

Asuka raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

"That was a programming error, Shinji," said Dr Akagi, before suddenly frowning. "Talk amongst yourselves. I may be some time." Her video pane vanished.

Asuka tapped her fingers on the control grips. She didn't want to talk about _that_ over the commlink, and there wasn't anything else she could think of worth talking about. There was the other pilot, she supposed, but...

Her cheeks flushed as the unwanted memory from Shinji replayed itself. No. Definitely not talking about her.

* * *

Ritsuko stared intently at the psychograph traces on the wall display. The cross-contamination between the pilots was clearly highlighted by the MAGI's analysis, but the observable effects were not at all what she'd have expected. Neither pilot had exhibited any frank psychiatric symptoms, just modest behavioural changes.

She sighed. There were bound to be latent issues. Maybe a stress test was needed. "Maya, load Test Angel 16."

"16, sempai? Isn't that the—"

"Yes. Asuka's been trained properly and Shinji has field experience. They should be able to handle it."

Misato interjected in a tone that would have frozen a penguin to death on the spot. "Would you like to explain to me why Lieutenant Ibuki is cavilling over your choice of testing material for my pilots, _Doctor Akagi_?"

"I... have to concede her point, Captain," said Ritsuko, weighing her words carefully. "The baseline data is solid. Their stability in light of the data is surprising, but I'm sure some more analysis will give us some insight. I think we can let them go about their day in peace."

Misato's voice thawed very slightly. "I'm glad to hear it. We should have a proper planning session soon."

Ritsuko toggled the commlink. "Change of plan. The data we have is enough to work with, so we'll be giving you the rest of the day to yourselves. Shinji, Rei will be collecting the day's schoolwork for you. Make sure you're in when she comes to drop it off."


	8. Connexion

Asuka was sitting in a café with her fellow pilot to discuss serious matters that might impact their combat performance.

The fact that her fellow pilot was a boy her own age who looked good in a plugsuit and actually understood some of what she was going through didn't make it a date. After all, if it was a date she'd be making him pick up the tab.

She set down her lemonade – there was no way she was drinking anything hot after a kilometre and a half walk in Japan's infernal humidity – and looked at her fellow pilot. "So, Shinji. We need to talk about... _that_."

"Yes."

There was a pause. Asuka realized she was looking a boy in the eyes at a café and not saying anything. Quite a cute boy. He wasn't as handsome as Kaji, of course, but Kaji was too handsome for his own good, and an asshole to boot.

Cheeks turning pink, she dipped her gaze. "So! Where are we going to start?"

"You like piloting Eva, don't you?"

"Yes. It's what I'm best at, and when the next Angel comes, I'll show you what I can do. You... you don't, do you?"

He shook his head vigorously. "It's... I didn't want to, but he was going to make Ayanami do it if I didn't. She had a broken arm and bandages everywhere and he was going to send her out to fight an Angel."

"Ayanami's the one you fell on top of, isn't she?"

Shinji blushed furiously and looked away. "You got... you got that? When we were in the entry plug?"

"Yes, I did." Why wouldn't that verdammt memory just _go away_? She didn't want to know what Ayanami's boob felt like. Especially if it felt nice. "What were you _doing_?"

"Nothing like... like that." He took a deep breath. Then another. "I went to give her her replacement security pass. She hadn't shut her front door properly and I went inside. She came out of the shower and walked towards me and I panicked and somehow we fell over and my hand ended up on her... her chest."

"You know that makes no fucking sense, right?"

"Yes." He looked up at the ceiling. "Can we talk about something else?"

She took mercy on him. She needed him to stay mentally fit to pilot. She'd need support if they had another Angel like that blue one. "Fine, but we need to talk about girls' privacy later. So, you liked that Rammstein song, I guess?"

His eyes lit up at that. "Yes! It wasn't at all the sort of thing I usually listen to but I'd like to hear it properly."

A plan came together in Asuka's head as she took a generous swig of her remaining lemonade. She could build a stronger connection with her fellow pilot _and_ replace some of the music that had found its way to the bottom of the Pacific. "I think I saw a record shop a few doors down. Let's go shopping."

"Sounds good," said Shinji. "I just need to—"

Even attenuated by distance and double glazing, Asuka recognized the sound that interrupted his response. "Get down!" she snapped, ducking under the table to put the decorative planter between herself and the window as people outside started screaming. "That was a gun!"

Shinji joined her under the table, looking distinctly wild-eyed. "Why is someone shooting?"

Asuka shook her head, fishing her new NERV-issued phone out of her bag. "Who cares? That's security's job." She flipped open the mollyguard on the back cover and held down the panic button. "Let's see if they're on the ball."

* * *

Rei Ayanami was prone to spend her afternoons at school in a daze, not really listening to what the teacher was saying. Knowing her purpose as she did, she saw no value in absorbing knowledge she would never need.

The buzzing of her NERV-issue phone intruded on her daze, bringing her instantly to full alertness in a conditioned reflex. She rose from her seat and headed for the door.

"Miss Ayanami, are you—"

"I must respond to an emergency signal," she said, not even breaking stride as she interrupted the teacher's query.

Stepping out into the corridor, she looked at the message on her phone. "PILOTS IKARI AND SOURYUU UNDER FIRE. PROTECTION PROTOCOLS ACTIVATED. PICKUP DRIVER EN ROUTE."

The feeling she experienced as she hurried through the school to the designated collection point was the same novel and unpleasant one she had felt when Pilot Ikari was injured fighting the octahedral Angel. It was not part of her purpose, and that fact bothered her almost as much as the feeling itself.

She swiped her NERV ID over a proximity reader and pushed open the door that led to the collection point. The floor was still covered in construction dust that puffed up around her ankles as she walked to the reinforced door, and she made a mental note of the shortcomings in the cleanup work. Her own health would not be impaired, but an ordinary human pilot might suffer respiratory distress as a result.

The green light above the door winked on, confirming that the Section Two van was correctly positioned for pickup. Rei swiped her card over the second proximity reader and stepped directly into the van's cabin.

As it moved off, Rei wondered why anyone would start attacking the other pilots.


	9. Fifty

Asuka hated waiting.

With a nutter with a rifle overlooking the street outside, it was all she could do.

She looked over at Shinji. He was holding together, just about. That was good. He wasn't going to freak out on her yet. She took a deep breath. "Looks like we'll have to postpone the record shopping," she quipped.

He made a short, tense sound that might have been a laugh. "I guess so." He fished out his phone, holding it in a white-knuckled grip. "Have they told you anything?"

She glanced down at her own, and started to say 'no' when it buzzed in her hand. The message from Misato read "Section Two en route. Sit tight. Confirm response."

"Confirmed." Asuka texted back. She wasn't about to try texting more than that in Japanese. She smiled at Shinji. "Someone's on the way. Misato says 'sit tight'."

Shinji looked at his phone, and then back at Asuka. "I... I guess we do that then."

"Yeah. Not the best afternoon out I've had."

* * *

Dressed in the only garment remotely as comfortable as her own skin, the icon of her publicly admitted purpose, Rei Ayanami sat in the locker room and waited.

An outside observer might have noted her relaxed muscles, neutral expression, and static pose, and from these things inferred a placid mental state.

They would – for once – be wrong. Two subjects preyed on her mind, leaving it in turmoil behind the mask of her self-discipline, and with no credible prospect of an imminent Angel attack, there was no higher priority to focus on.

The fortress city of Tokyo-3 was the ultimate bastion of humanity, the heart of its defences against the Angels, and the Evangelion pilots were its foremost defenders. She could not rightly comprehend how and why they could come under fire from a human.

There was also the matter of the feelings she was experiencing regarding Pilot Ikari. His presence was pleasant, and the prospect of him being injured or distressed was... not pleasant.

A concept became an urge became an impulse.

With the rest of her fingers plaited, her left thumb rolled over her right, and her right, in turn, over her left.

She noted the action to be relaxing, and repeated it.

* * *

Shinji looked at his phone again. No new messages. Nothing to tell him _when_ Section Two would be turning up like Misato said. Maybe they'd got stuck. Maybe the—

"Hey, Shinji." Asuka's tone sounded brittle, but it was still something to focus on. "When we go to the record store, let's pick something out for each other."

He looked across at the beautiful red-haired girl he was hiding under a table with and took in the worried smile on her face. _Words. She's talking to me. Use words._ "I... I'd like that a lot. We should do that."

She extended a hand. "Shake on it?"

Nervously, he reached out and took her hand in his. The contact was... nice. Her hand was warm. Her grip was firm. He managed to firm up his own grip and shake her hand properly and tried not to think too hard about the fact that he was touching a girl and a girl was touching him and—

"Then it's a deal," she said. "No getting shot before then, all right? Even a great pilot like me needs backup."

"All right," he said, cheeks burning as Asuka's hand slipped out of his grip.

Outside, there was an explosion.

* * *

Seated in one of the observer stations, Misato stared at the command centre's tactical display in disbelief. 'Air-launched HE missile' was _not_ how she'd expected the SDF counter-terrorist unit to deal with the sniper.

"I believe your people are safe," said the SDF duty officer to her right.

"A missile seems like overkill."

"The upper storeys were vacant. You value your people, Captain, and we value ours. Read about Charles Whitman."


	10. Decompression

Misato hated Commander Ikari's office. It had very obviously been designed to intimidate whoever visited it, and the man made full use of that effect. The inevitable familiarity that came with visiting it in the line of duty softened the impact, but couldn't quite suppress it. "Six dead civilians – it could be eight by tomorrow – and twenty assorted lesser injuries," she said. "The SDF killed whoever did it so hard we can't even use dental records."

"I agree that Colonel Nakajima's choice of tactics was questionable," replied Ikari. Misato caught the telltale shift in his facial muscles that said he was smirking behind those steepled hands and amber glasses. "I will express our displeasure to General Kurita in person. Please attend to your pilots. It would be inconvenient if they were to be incapacitated by this incident. Dismissed."

 _That's your fucking son, you ingrate. Allegedly._ "Of course, sir," she said, turning to depart.

For a moment, as she made the long walk out of the Commander's office, she could have sworn she heard another voice, faint and muffled, from behind her. However piqued her curiosity might have been, though, she had no desire to linger, or even look behind her as she departed.

* * *

Sat with his gaze directed at a safety poster on the break room wall in front of him, Shinji wasn't really looking at the poster, or anything else.

The van didn't have windows in the back, and Section Two had parked it very close to the café door when they came to collect him and Asuka, but it hadn't blocked his view of the square completely as he emerged. He'd seen a man who'd been shot in the head, and a little girl tugging at him like she was trying to wake him up.

He knew people had gotten killed during Angel attacks, of course, but there was... _distance_ to it. He hadn't seen the bodies. He hadn't even been to visit Touji's little sister who was in hospital with broken legs thanks to falling rubble because _he_ hadn't been good enough to actually fight the Third Angel. The Angels' victims had been inside buildings, or tanks crushed by Sachiel, or planes vapourized by Ramiel's particle beams, or ships sunk when Gaghiel broke their hulls open, and for all he could tell, the Angels were just monsters. There didn't seem to be any kind of _conscious_ intent behind their violence – they just destroyed whatever threatened them or got between them and their goal.

This was something a man had done. One of the billions of people he was fighting the Angels to save. A man had gone up a building with a gun and started shooting people as they went about their daily business. They weren't even people he'd have any particular reason to hate. Just... people.

A red and black shape moved between him and the poster. "Shinji? Shinji, how are you feeling?"

Shinji blinked and shook his head, then blushed as he realized he was now basically staring at Misato's... _Misato_. "I... uh... why did..." He rubbed his face. "Why did that..."

"We don't know yet, Shinji," said Misato, squatting down so her face was level with his. "But we're going to find out, even though the SDF blew him to pieces."

Shinji looked around, and realized he and Misato were the only people in the room. "Wh-where's Asuka?"

As if on cue, the red-haired girl emerged from the women's restroom looking slightly dishevelled and even paler than normal, with one hand clapped over her abdomen. "Right here, id— _Shinji_. Can we go home now, Misato?"

"Yes," said Misato, pulling her beret out from under her epaulette strap and getting to her feet. "I'll get us a takeaway. And then we can... talk, I guess. If you want to."

Asuka pulled a face. "Nothing too greasy. Please."

* * *

Maya sat at the MAGI cluster's main visualization terminal, with the file the Section Two agent had provided open in her lap. She'd fed the first section into the hopper on the scanner as soon as she saw one of the photographs, and moved on to delivering the drier, more technical information by voice.

"Bullets recovered from semi-hard targets consistent with use of .338 Lapua Magnum," she read aloud. "Attacker fired from the 15th floor of the Yamagawa Building. Victims did not hold high-clearance roles."

Meaningless streams of pixels ran up the side of the visualization terminal, letting Maya know that the system was working on the information she was providing, and a list of names started appearing, followed by a red-boxed prompt. "CORRELATION OF EVIDENCE REQUIRES INTERROGATION OF JSDF SYSTEMS. THE IDENTITY OF THE CONFIRMING OPERATOR WILL BE RECORDED TO NERV SYSTEMS. PROCEED?"

Maya took a deep breath. NERV had _authority_ to do this sort of thing, but there was still something intimidating about the prospect of actually doing it. "Proceed," she said.

The prompt vanished, and the pixel bands at the sides widened to represent the heightened activity. Another prompt appeared. "ANALYSIS TIME AT CURRENT SYSTEM LOAD: 17 HOURS 23 MINUTES. NO FURTHER DATA REQUIRED AT THIS TIME."

Maya scooped the contents of the scanner's output hopper back into the folder without looking at it, and stashed the folder in one of the locking drawers under the terminal. "Suspend display," she ordered the system. There wouldn't be much point in leaving the terminal running once she'd left for the evening.


	11. Transfer

When the sun rose that Tuesday, Rei was already out of bed, recovering her hateful garments from where she had flung them the previous evening. The same conditioning that allowed a simple signal to break her habitual daze in an instant had instilled expectations about what would follow from an alert. Those expectations had not been fulfilled, and her senses were undimmed even after a fitful and near-sleepless night. The bedsheets were no more pleasant than her clothes, and even her own hair brushing against her neck when she turned her head had become a source of irritation. She dumped the previous day's garments into the laundry hamper and pondered her situation.

Staying at home was out of the question; for all that her attendance was pointless, it would be unpleasant to have to explain such a large wilful deviation from routine to the Commander or Dr Akagi.

She could not plead a gastrointestinal upset; her biochemical makeup was anathema to every pathogen and parasite known to humanity, and for all that she found the tastes and textures of flesh unpleasant, she had no dietary intolerances in the biological sense.

Pondering that last point, Rei walked into the kitchen. The Section Two agent who had helped her move her things – such as they were – into the apartment had left some jars of herbs and spices in one of the cupboards. She had never even bothered to unseal them, having no context for how they might be used. She picked up one of the jars, pondering the flat yellowish seeds and red flakes inside, and remembered that humans sometimes used strong, ostensibly unpleasant stimuli to distract themselves from weaker but more vexing stimuli.

She peeled the plastic seal off the jar and unscrewed the lid.

* * *

Shoulders squared in the best impression of "imperious" she could manage, Asuka swept her gaze over the class, contemplating the people she was about to spend six hours a day with.

There was Shinji, of course, but thinking about that too much was a bad idea.

There was the jock and the nerd who'd been with Shinji on the _Over the Rainbow_. The nerd flinched and the jock met her gaze with a scowl.

There was the blue-haired pilot – Ayanami, was it? She looked back at Asuka with a terrifying intensity that didn't mesh with that memory of Shinji's.

One of the girls, who'd been "blessed" by her hormones, smirked; the rest had nothing to make them stand out.

"Good morning," she said. "I'm Asuka Langley Souryuu. I'm here to protect you all from the Angels, and if anyone sticks a love letter in my locker I'll make him eat it."

A hushed murmur ran around the classroom, only to be stilled when the aged fossil purportedly employed as their teacher cleared his throat. "Thank you, Miss Souryuu. Please be seated. Gentlemen, please remember that lockers are not mailboxes."

Asuka walked over to the desk in front of Ayanami. Up close, she could see that her fellow pilot's expression was not so much one of "intensity" as one of discomfort. "Hi," said Asuka before settling into her seat.

"Good morning, Pilot Souryuu." Ayanami paused and tilted her head. "You remind me of Pilot Ikari. Can we talk later?"

The teacher started speaking in a flat, droning voice that could almost have been calculated to make his pupils zone out. "Now, in the wake of Second Impact, old Tokyo was struck by both geological upheaval and a deliberate nuclear attack..."

* * *

Sitting up on the roof with Rei and Asuka, Shinii stared in shock as Rei produced a jar of chilli flakes from her bag and shook a generous dose out onto her lunch. "Ah, Ayanami, are you—"

"My clothes are deeply uncomfortable," replied Rei. "Intense sensory stimuli make it less noticeable. Capsaicin is a convenient source."

Asuka snorted. "I know these uniforms are ridiculous, but they're not _that_ bad, are they?"

Rei took a bite of her lunch before responding. "Cloth is unpleasant, and my senses are heightened due to yesterday's alert not bringing me into combat."

"Why don't you tell Dr Akagi?" asked Shinji.

"You were visibly distressed by the condition of my apartment. Dr Akagi is not." Rei took another bite of her lunch. "She is not concerned with my comfort."

His opinion of the scientist lurching further downward, Shinji decided to move the conversation on. "I guess that wasn't what you wanted to talk to us about, though."

"You are experiencing mutual mental contamination," said Rei. "It is a very strange sight. Have you touched each other since then?"

"What the hell kind of question is that?" asked Asuka, scowling at the bluenette as she devoured more of her chilli-strewn lunch.

"It's a Rei kind of question," said Shinji. "You get used to it. Anyway. No, we haven't touched each other since we left the entry plug."

"Thank you, Pilot Ikari."

"You said it was a strange sight. What do you mean?"

"I may have said too much. You are..." Rei tilted her head, then smiled very slightly. "You are Evangelion pilots. Your performance against the Angels would be well served by understanding your situation. This is not an ideal venue. May I come home with you this afternoon?"

Shinji smiled back at Rei. "All right by me," he said.

Asuka looked at Rei and shifted uncomfortably. "I... guess. I can't really argue with the idea."

Rei's smile widened a little further. "I look forward to visiting you."

* * *

Seated in his office, Kouzou looked across the shougi table at his superior. "The First Child is connecting with the other pilots," he observed, moving a pawn.

"If her loyalty wavers, she can be replaced. If it doesn't, she becomes a means to influence the others." Gendou dropped his bishop in an attacking position. "The scenario is not unacceptably perturbed."

It was a bold move. Kouzou sat back in his chair and pondered it. "What is the Committee's angle?"

"Irrelevant." Gendou looked at the clock. "I have an appointment with a uniformed fool. Excuse me. Let us continue this later."

"Of course."


	12. Crosstalk

The three pilots sat around Misato's dining table, with Asuka and Shinji facing each other and Rei sat at the end of the table watching them both. Shinji's right hand was palm-down on the table, and Asuka's left was palm-down on top of it.

Shinji felt pressure against the palm of his left hand, like he was resting it on top of someone else's, and an entirely unfamiliar band of pressure around his ribcage.

Asuka felt pressure against the back and the palm of her right hand, like it was sandwiched between someone else's hand and something hard and flat.

Rei's inhuman senses showed her the transposed fragments of her fellow pilots' souls lighting up.

"This is weird," declared Asuka, flexing her right hand. "It's like I'm feeling what you're touching."

Shinji shifted slightly in his seat, and Asuka felt a bundle of sensation, mostly an uncomfortable pressure, that seemed to be coming from somewhere she didn't—

Facts connected in her brain, and with a cry of "pervert!" she slapped him with her right hand. The impact registered in her hand and her face simultaneously, making her flinch and breaking the sensory connection.

"Ow!" cried Shinji and Asuka in unison.

"What was that for?" added Shinji.

Asuka rubbed her cheek, despite the pain having vanished as soon as she stopped touching Shinji. "You were being a perv!"

"What do you mean?" interjected Rei, confused by the exchange.

Asuka and Shinji both went red, and Asuka managed to get some words out. "Look, I know what the pressure I felt means, OK?"

Rei put together the pieces of the situation in her head and nodded. She didn't entirely understand why it bothered Asuka, but it was good enough to work with. "I see. I'm sorry this upset you. It proves I was right about your status, though."

"So... there's part of my soul in Asuka, and part of hers in me?"

"Yes," replied Rei. "When you touch each other, you connect to the missing part and receive sensory impressions from it."

"I don't want part of Shinji in me!"

Shinji blinked at the outburst. Asuka stopped, looked at him, and fled the table with her cheeks blazing.

* * *

Misato looked over the front page of the report Lieutenant Ibuki had given her. The minimalist summary at the top was discouraging enough – "43% confidence" was a bad sign – but the longer summary was worse.

The man the MAGI were proposing as the shooter had been a sniper in the JGSDF who went AWOL four days before the shooting. He had no surviving family on record and had been raised in an orphanage before enlisting straight out of high school. Nothing unusual there – Japan's orphanages had been overloaded since Second Impact, and enlisting gave you better opportunities, both in service and after discharge, than waiting until you got conscripted.

His SDF disciplinary record, on the other hand, appeared to be complete bullshit; he should have been court-martialled and dishonorably discharged three times over, but he'd never received anything worse than a formal reprimand.

On top of that, he was the only survivor from his platoon following an ambush while doing COIN work in the Mekong Protectorate, yet he'd been passed fit for duty before being transferred to an undermanned platoon and rotated back to Japan. The closing line of the front page was an understatement. "Records associated with this suspect exhibit peculiarities consistent with deliberate tampering."

She looked up from the report to see Kaji standing in the doorway of her office. "Hello, you," she said.

"Good afternoon." He smiled sympathetically at her. "The look on your face says you don't like what you're reading."

"Those romances Ibuki reads make more sense than this shit."

"Sounds like something a dashing, handsome UN Inspector needs to investigate."

Some things never changed. Misato rolled her eyes and extended the report towards him. "Well, when you find one, hand him this."

He took the document off her hands and started reading the first page. After a few moments, he sighed and shook his head. "This is going to be a fun case. Are we still on for Saturday?"

"Why would I miss having fancy dinner at your expense? Of course."

"Glad to hear it." Kaji grinned. "See you later, Katsuragi."

"See you later, Kaji."

Misato wondered, as her idiot ex departed, just what she'd got herself into.

* * *

"Would you like to stay for dinner?"

Rei contemplated the invitation. On the one hand, spending more time in Shinji's company would be pleasant. On the other hand, she was not entirely comfortable with Asuka's company, and there was the question of how the Commander and Dr Akagi would react to her seeking to reinforce social bonds. "Does Asuka like vegetarian food?"

Shinji looked towards the redhead's room and sighed. "Probably not," he admitted. "And I've left it a little late to prepare two different mains."

"Then I should thank you for the invitation, but regretfully decline. It would be pleasant to dine with you another time." She reached into her school bag, pulled out the jar of chilli flakes, and shook it to settle the contents. "I need to buy more of these. I don't know how long my present state will persist."

The look on Shinji's face appeared to be one of alarm. "Is it healthy eating that much chilli?"

"Humans not used to it would suffer considerable discomfort throughout the alimentary canal." She smiled a little, in a manner she hoped was reassuring. "I do not anticipate experiencing any difficulty. Good night, Shinji. I will see you tomorrow."


	13. Point of Contact

Wednesday morning at school found Rei watching her fellow pilots. Shinji was glancing occasionally at Asuka, and there was a visible tension in Asuka's posture as the redhead kept her eyes fixed on the blackboard. Whatever had happened after she left, Rei sensed that it had not been any kind of _resolution_.

She turned her thoughts to her own problems. There were advantages to her heightened awareness – after all, she wouldn't have been able to notice and investigate the interesting phenomenon that was Shinji and Asuka's connection without it – but it was very wearying, and her steady intake of capsaicin to distract from the wretched garments she was compelled to wear was... not ideal, for all that she had deflected Shinji's concerns the previous evening.

She couldn't approach Dr Akagi about the subject. She was unsure whether the scientist could be trusted to use anything but the most direct of methods, and she had no wish to return to the depths of her habitual daze.

She couldn't approach the Commander. Her mental state was outside his expertise. He might very well simply ask Dr Akagi to address the situation.

Captain Katsuragi was a possibility, but Shinji's occasional remarks about their superior raised questions over her suitability.

She opened the messaging application on her school laptop, and was immediately reminded why she didn't use it. The logs were littered with inane requests from other students. A few moments' work allowed an indiscriminate purge, and then she typed a message to Shinji. "May I sit with you and Asuka for lunch again? It was pleasant."

Shinji's response was disappointing. "Not sure she wants to sit with me. She wouldn't look at me at breakfast this morning. I can sit with you if you'd like."

"That would be pleasant. Do you mind if I ask Asuka? I think it would be better for us if we were able to interact with each other regularly."

"OK."

* * *

Asuka frowned at the message from Rei on her laptop. "Would you like to sit with me and Shinji for lunch today?"

Her cheeks flushed as she remembered the previous afternoon. The id— _Shinji_ had started thinking pervy thoughts about her. She supposed it shouldn't really be a surprise. Boys were like that and she had an inkling he'd more or less never touched a girl apart from the time she was trying to not think about his memory of, so touching a girl who he could feel what she was touching probably would make him perv out over something.

There was the question of why she hadn't noticed anything like that when they held hands in the café, but they _had_ both had bigger concerns than 'feeling a bit weird' at that point.

And she still had to share Misato's apartment with him, because Kaji was an arsehole and there was no way she was doing her own laundry if she could help it. Even if it meant a risk that maybe he was _doing things_ with it.

No, she thought. He wasn't quite that kind of perv. With a sigh, she typed a reply to Rei. "All right, then." Sitting together as the three of them would probably help stop people getting the wrong idea about her and Shinji.

* * *

Something was amiss, Asuka realized, as she wolfed down her lunch. Sitting with Rei and Shinji, she could feel an odd, nagging sensation like... like something wasn't there when it should be, which was stupid. She definitely wasn't missing any body parts. She set down her chopsticks. Eating lunch with people in silence was too weird. "So, Rei, what kind of music do you listen to?"

The bluenette shrugged. "I don't."

Asuka blinked. "Who the hell doesn't listen to music? Apart from deaf people, I mean. Obviously they don't."

"I don't have any equipment to do so. It never felt necessary."

 _Who even raised her?_ "Well, we should do something about that, shouldn't we, Shinji?"

At the opposite corner of the table, Shinji looked up from his lunch. "Uh, sorry, I didn't catch that."

"I said we should find some music for Rei to listen to! Can you believe she doesn't listen to any? And _we_ still need to go to a record shop anyway, because _I_ need to replace what got sunk and _you_ need to listen to something written after 1850!"

"I like Stravinsky. He was after 1850."

"Fine, after 1950, then! And it needs to be something with electric gui—" As she leaned across the table, her hand touched Shinji's, and she gave a yelp of surprise as she realized her sense of something _missing_ was gone. She recoiled from the accidental contact, and the _missingness_ returned.

"You are very passionate about this," observed Rei, as Asuka flopped back down into her seat.

"It's really important," replied Asuka in a voice much smaller than usual. _I mustn't run away._

"All right," said Shinji. "Let's go record shopping. I guess Rei might need something to play things on as well. If we go at the weekend we'll have time to browse properly and sit down afterwards and listen to things."

Asuka nodded and returned her attention to her lunch. Food was good. Food didn't complicate her life.


	14. Resynchronization

Down in the deepest parts of NERV HQ, with only the floor – and ten layers of armour – separating her from the "LCL Production Plant", Ritsuko tapped her fingers nervously on the workbench. Ayanami's behaviour was different, and the fact the girl was suspended in LCL behind an inch of armoured glass did very little to make that less worrying.

Gendou taking so long to answer her call wasn't helping. _Come on, you bastard, pick up._

Click. "Doctor. Is something wrong?"

"Ayanami seemed agitated when she arrived for her backup. I'm not sure I've ever seen her undress that fast before outside of combat prep." She looked at the rack of drug cartridges next to the workstation. Formula three would be easiest, but six would probably yield the best results. A couple of buttons, a few squirts of carefully chosen chemicals into the suspension tank, and she could have her peace of mind back. "I can address the issue easily enough, but I knew you'd want to offer some input."

"I'm aware of a shift in her behaviour. If it causes a serious problem, it will be dealt with. Until then, do not interfere."

That wasn't the answer she wanted. She pressed the issue. "The MAGI estimate a 200% increase in the size of the backup delta compared to last week. It's not going to finish in the normal time window. That's going to cause a problem right there."

"Move the backup window to Saturday nights." Gendou's tone shifted subtly, even if his language remained professional. "I believe that would be a suitable time for a conference once the process is under way."

Ritsuko hesitated, grateful that this was a voice-only connection. Their last couple of... _conferences_ had not been to her taste, in more ways than one. She couldn't help wondering if he'd changed his diet. "Of course, Commander."

"Very good. Cancel tonight's backup. Have Section Two return Ayanami to her accommodation." Click.

Ritsuko rubbed her upper arms as she looked towards the suspension cylinder. She could have done with a break before interacting with Ayanami again.

* * *

As the hot spray of the shower sent orange rivulets of diluted LCL streaming down the drain, Rei pondered the incidents of the evening.

Given how unpleasant cloth felt against her skin, she had been looking forward to the backup process, and the multiple hours of being suspended in LCL without even a plugsuit. To have it interrupted after less than an hour and be ordered to wash, dress, and report to Section Two's motor pool to be driven home was... displeasing.

Dr Akagi's behaviour towards her was different, too. Normally the scientist treated her with a certain disdain, like she regarded Rei as barely more than an animated object. This evening, though, there was anxiety and tension in Dr Akagi's movement and manner.

Rei wondered what inspired such a reaction. She could not imagine herself engaging in violence towards Dr Akagi. She had no motive to do so, and in any event the likely result would be the termination of her current body and the continuous sedation of its replacement.

She ran her fingers through her hair, separating her locks to allow the shower to loosen every last trace of LCL. Immersion was pleasant, but letting it dry and congeal was not.

"Ayanami!" shouted Dr Akagi from the doorway. "What's taking so long?"

Rei sighed and twisted this way and that under the shower one last time before turning off the water. "I wished to be particularly sure I had cleaned all the LCL out of my hair before getting in a Section Two vehicle. It would be inappropriate to contaminate the headrests."

She started towelling off. The rough cotton was no more pleasant against her skin than her school uniform, but the contact was brief, and entirely in her own control. She left her hair wetter than usual; if it was wet, it would cling to her instead of brushing against her neck.

Reluctantly re-dressed in her school uniform, Rei emerged from the bathroom and met Dr Akagi's gaze. "When is my next backup going to be?"

The scientist recoiled slightly and looked away. "Saturday. 18:00. Don't be late. The MAGI estimate it could take as much as 24 hours."

"Is Unit 02 ready for use? It would be unfortunate to leave Shin— Pilot Ikari as the only pilot capable of deployment."

"We'll be holding full sync tests for all three of you tomorrow afternoon. Now get upstairs. Section Two are waiting for you."

* * *

Arriving in class on Thursday morning, Asuka started at the sight of Rei. She'd replaced her usual scruffy bob with a much shorter – but equally scruffy, like she'd hacked it into being with nail scissors – style that left her face unframed and her ears exposed. After the class rep had run them through that pointlessly deferential stand-bow-sit routine, Asuka sent a message to the bluenette.

"What's with the lesbian hair?"

"I don't understand the question."

"Your new haircut. It's going to make people think you're into girls."

"As far as I know I am not 'into' any kind of human."

"If you say it like that people will wonder if you're some kind of freak who's into tentacle monsters or something."

"Humans are strange."

"You say that like you aren't one."

Rei stiffened in her seat. "Later. Bring Shinji."

"Hey, we're not joined at the hip, you know."

As Asuka sent that last rejoinder to Rei, the teacher cleared his throat. "Miss Souryuu, your kanji work could do with a great deal of improvement. Please pay attention to the lesson."

Asuka opened her mouth to protest, then thought better of it. _He'll just have that Horaki girl march me to the office or something._

There was a final message from Rei on her laptop. "Indeed. You are joined at the soul."


	15. Testing Times

Sat at the back of the observation bay, Ritsuko ignored the hustle and bustle of technicians setting up the extra equipment to manage three live sync tests from one bay. After all, they knew their jobs and could do them perfectly well without her supervision. Her attention was instead focused on the window, and the blue-armoured giant in the test bay beyond it. How, she wondered, was that... _thing_ going to react to the Commander's precious doll's current state of agitation?

Would it reject her? That would be convenient.

Would it fly into a rage and try to murder them all again? That would... not be convenient, even if the window had been given extra reinforcement and a catch net to block at least the larger pieces of glass.

Maybe everything would go smoothly and let Gendou smirk at her this Saturday during their 'conference' and tell her everything was going to the scenario. That would be annoying, but possibly for the best. Quite apart from the whole practical question of having three deployable pilots, if he was relaxed about the state of the scenario, he'd probably be more... considerate. And maybe even take some feedback on _taste_.

She pushed aside a treacherous and unhelpful thought about that, and fished her cigarettes out of her labcoat pocket. "Ibuki! I'm going for a smoke."

She had a cigarette between her lips by the time the door closed behind her. Alone in the hallway, she sparked up and took a long drag. As she blew the smoke ceilingward, the elevator door across the hall slid open and Misato stepped out.

"Ugh, Ritz, are you still smoking the same shitty cigarettes? At least Kaji managed to find a decent brand."

"If they tasted good I'd smoke more. How are your pilots?"

Misato shrugged. "Rei seems twitchy. Shinji and Asuka are... well, I told you before, Shinji's grown a sharp tongue, and Asuka's a little bit less... forceful than I'd expect. And they're probably both still a bit rattled from the shootings. The body they saw wasn't a pretty sight."

"Keep me posted. Anything that stands out could be important." Ritsuko glanced down at her cigarette. "Especially with _that_ throwing a wrench into things."

Misato's eyes narrowed. "You know, you're not very good at sounding like you care."

"When was I ever good at..." Ritsuko paused, and remembered a certain weekend back in uni, just after Misato and Kaji had broken up. "Don't answer that."

"See you inside, Ritz," said Misato with a grin as she brushed past Ritsuko, the accidental contact giving that troublesome memory a signal boost.

She smoked the rest of her cigarette far faster than was sensible and headed back inside where there would be _work_ to do, at least if the technicians were finished.

* * *

"Synchronization complete."

Asuka shifted uneasily in her seat. Something wasn't quite right. She was used to Unit 02's barely-contained rage seeping through the link, but today it felt different. Blurred. Confused. She toggled on her commlink. "So what's my score?"

"You're averaging fifty seven point three, Asuka," replied the voice of that nice friendly lieutenant – Ibuki, her name was. "There's some jitter on that, though. You're swinging by two percent either way."

 _Three percent down on my last test at NERV Berlin._ "Huh. You sure that reading's correctly calibrated?"

"We're using the calibration curve that was sent over with you and Unit 02."

 _Oh, wonderful._ She looked around the inside of the Evangelion cage, comparing it to its counterpart in Berlin. "Tell them to make sure they sent the latest curve. They sent me by sea without underwater gear, after all."

"I'll get that double-checked for you, Asuka."

The commlink fell silent, leaving Asuka sitting in an entry plug in an idle Evangelion with nothing to do.

* * *

"Synchronization complete."

Shinji's grip on the controls relaxed slightly. Everything was... off. The intangible warmth he was used to was a little cooler, a little harder to grasp. He reached up to his A10 connectors to check they were properly in place, but everything seemed to be in order. He toggled on his commlink. "This doesn't feel right. It should feel warmer."

"Hang on, Shinji, let me check the thermal readouts for the plug," replied Lieutenant Ibuki. "Does anything else feels unusual?"

"No, just that."

"OK." Ibuki paused, and Shinji heard a clatter of typing. "Thermal profile says the temperature in the entry plug is the same as usual. No hot or cold spots."

Shinji looked up, through Unit 01's gaze, at the empty observation box, and shook his head. "I'm not talking about that kind of warmth," he said. "When I sync with the Eva, it feels warm inside. Like..." He trailed off, unable to find the words to express it.

"Well, your sync score _is_ lower than last time. You're on 51%." More typing. "You and Asuka are both showing some jitter on your score – about 2% either way."

Dr Akagi joined in the conversation. "Hello, Shinji. We'll have to look more closely at these results, but for the moment, there's no major concern. You should be fine to pilot in the field if an Angel attacks – just be mindful of the jitter. We might need to run a field exercise with you and Asuka."

* * *

"There's no 'might' about it, Ritz."

The voice in Ritsuko's ear was friendly enough, but the remark reminded her that all was still not entirely well between herself and Misato. She nodded. "Of course. When should we run it?"

"Sunday."

"Possible. Let's see Ayanami's results first. Maya, do the honours."

* * *

"Synchronization complete."

Rei looked around the cage. This was not how a sync test should feel. Sync tests were supposed to happen in her baseline neurological state. All of her results had been taken in that state. As long as her sync ratio in that state was adequate, she would be certain of being able to operate Unit 00.

"Congratulations, Rei! Your score is up five points from your last sync test. You're almost level with Asuka. Whatever you're doing, keep it up."

Rei paused. She wished to dispel Lieutenant Ibuki's impression that her sync rate improvement was the result of something she had done, but she did not wish to draw Dr Akagi's attention to the anomaly. Her continued heightened awareness was a difficult burden to bear, but any intervention would be... blunt.

"Thank you, Lieutenant. I shall do my best." An idea occurred to her. Sitting in the entry plug, wearing her plugsuit and immersed in LCL, was a much more pleasant condition than any practically maintainable condition she could reach in her living quarters. "Would you like to get an extended data set?"

* * *

Ritsuko wanted the data in front of her to go away. Ayanami's sync rate was stable, and higher than normal for a sync test. Gendou's decision to leave her be would stand up to scrutiny. "Excellent work," she said, trying not to sound like she was gritting her teeth. "Let's get a few more minutes of background data before shutdown."

"So, Ritz, are we good for Sunday?"

Ritsuko looked at her old friend and nodded. "I suppose. Ayanami and I will be unavailable due to an essential procedure, but I believe Lieutenant Ibuki can handle the Project E side of the exercise."

"I can live with that. What kind of 'essential procedure' are we talking about?"

Ritsuko recalled the 'conference' following the last time she'd given Misato more information than Gendou thought was strictly necessary where the surveillance systems were online, and barely suppressed a shudder. "That information's only available at the Commander's discretion. If you don't feel like asking him, you'll just have to trust me."

"Right." Misato paused. "Everything OK, Ritz?"

"As good as can be expected given the threats we face."

If she said it enough, maybe she'd believe it herself.


End file.
